Orange, ginger and cinnamon scent fills the air, the fire is burning in the fireplace and Gingerbread cookies are ready to be baked.The sweetness and the spices fragrance warm the heart, while the snow falls outside, blanketing everything in its pure whiteness...The shades of orange, brown and especially russet are the theme of this third set of patterns for my The Colors of Christmas series.

But that's not all... did you think that I could leave you without a Christmas present?! :DFor the occasion, I created another Russet Christmas ornament, inspired by the gingerbread frosted cookies in the shape of snowflakes, and it's my free pattern for all of you. Since I had not time to stitch it yet, you'll be the first to bring it to life and we will embroider it together ;)

I hope you like this new color! The next two Colors of Christmas will be ready next year, and they will be... magic!I wish you a wonderful December and a Happy Christmas, full of Magic, Joy and of Gifts of Love.A big hug to all of you!

My dear friends, unfortunately the email address I used since now has been deleted and I'm no longer able to receive the email through it. These are the new email addresses that you can use to write me. Feel free to use the one you prefer, I receive the email together in a unique email box. Thanks so much and sorry for the inconvenience:

Think about a snowy winter, the snow falls softly from the sky covering everything in white, frost shines blue and the ice covers some beautiful winter berries.All is silent, all is still, frozen... and when evening comes everything is tinged with blue.This is the magic of Blue Christmas, and the magic that I tried to reproduce in these new designs for you.

You'll find a nice little blue house, illuminated by lanterns and guarded by the snowman;then the sledge of the Blue Lady, and the Blue Lady itself, which helps Santa Claus to distribute gifts to good children;and also many socks that wait the day of light and fortune, when they will be filled with treats and toys.

The theme for this Blue Christmas is the magic of stillness, the delicacy of winter, of ice and snow, a delicacy not rigid, but joyful and bright in its way.I hope that you like these new designs, and if you still have a little 'patience another of the Colors of Christmas will come in some days, a color warmer and... spicy! ;)See you soon and happy winter!

Another story perfect for our Legends for Halloween is the one that tells of the terrifying Dullahan, a ghost similar to a headless horseman riding a big black horse or driving a haunting black chariot – called coach a bower, or death coach – and flogging his whip.

The Irish legend has some European variants and arrived in America, and probably inspired the legendary Headless Horseman of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.The appearance of Dullahan was always feared, because he appeared to bring a soul in the Otherworld, therefore it was associated with death but also with regeneration and rebirth. Unlike Banshee, who complained and cried, but whose presence was more discreet, the Dullahan burst with his chariot making a great noise, and ran around the chosen house several times.

Questa è l’ultima delle Legends for Halloween per quest’anno, e sperando che vi piaccia il disegno che ne ho tratto, vi auguro una felicissima festa di Halloween!This is the last Legend for Halloween for this year, and I hope you like the pattern inspired by it. So I wish you a funny and happy Halloween party!

Dear Stitchers, I'm writing you to announce that the Mystery SAL is officially concluded, and that the pattern that the SAL stitchers began to stitch on June is now available as a normal pattern and it includes the two version of the pattern with the definitive cover.

The night is dark and quiet, the mists rising from the torrents and the leaves fall from the tree branches. Suddenly a scream breaks the silence… it is the spirit of the Banshee, announcing an imminent death.The otherworldly woman cries and screams… her white robes float in the cold air, her hair wave, and she wanders near the house where the death will early make her visit.

The Banshee is part of the Irish tradition and is associated with death. However she is not its cause, she brings no pain, but she only announces the passage, that would have happened in any case, for the will of nature.She was much loved by the Irish people, and her function, as well as announce the death, was also to protect the family under her protection.

But another story accompanies us on this new Spin of the Wheel.A long time ago when the travelers returned to their homes by night, they were guided only by the light of the moon, that allowed them to avoid falling into the sludge of the marshes and recognize the safe path.An English legend says that there was a day that the moon, which had descended to earth in the form of a shiny Maiden wrapped in a dark cloak to hide her light, was captured by the spirits and creatures from the swamp, and was buried in the mud, under a big tree.Her light did not shine anymore. The moon in the night sky was gone…

The men questioned a wise old woman, who reveals to see in her vision a gloomy place marked with a cross and a candle. There lay the Moon.The cross was in reality a large tree in the shape of a cross, while the candle was a wisp placed to watch the Buried Moon.The folks helped the shining Maiden to emerge from the mud, and then, in the sky, the moon returned to shine for all of us.

This pattern is dedicated to this beautiful story, which touches me deeply, and although it is very tiny I love it so much. I hope you will love it. I will write you again next week, and I will announce the end of the Mystery SAL and the publication of the final version of the Moon Phases pattern. It will be accompanied, or followed, by the third pattern for Halloween 2015.All these patterns are part of my new collection LEGENDS FOR HALLOWEEN.See you soon!!

The fairy tale of the Little Mermaid is one of the stories that touch the heart, because it may seem sad and nostalgic. But it is perhaps one of the most beautiful fairy tales ever written, precisely for its ending. The beautiful Little Mermaid is not made for living a human love, but she is made to rejoin with the watery realm of the spirit that becomes air, cloud, gentle wind...The Little Mermaid sacrifices herself for Love and dissolves her soul in the white foam of the sea, she goes up in the sky and becomes a spirit made of pure light, grace and joy.The Love that the Little Mermaid embraces is beyond the human world, because the love of a pure creature, a daughter of the water, can only be divine.So the Little Mermaid joins the dance of the souls of light, and becomes light, becomes the song whispered by the morning breeze…

Melissa, or the old plural form Melissae (Melissas), is a name derived from the Latin meli and means "She who is the giver of honey". The beautiful and shiny Melissa is both the golden bee that sucks nectar from flowers to produce the sweet honey, and the maiden devoted to the cult of the bee, the maiden that is part of the sisterhood that follows the old matriarchal order and works for a common purpose: to bring sweetness, beauty, nourishment and light in the world.For the ancient Melissae feed the queen is perhaps the symbol of serving and nurturing a divine principle that lives in nature and in the individual soul of every living being.To be a Melissa, or a Beekeeper, maybe mean being able to go beyond themselves to search, cultivate and spread with the sisters a divine harmony that unites all and makes all similar to each other, without sacrificing the extraordinary diversity and uniqueness of each maiden of the sisterhood.

I decided to draw this pattern because I love what is represented… it’s a theme as old as time, and even if it comes mainly from the Mediterranean mythology, it is present all over the world... wherever you see the golden flying of a bee.This design, similar to "The Queen of the Bees" that I proposed last summer, is part of my series "The Sacred Bee", and it will not be the last dedicated to this ancient theme so wonderful and inspiring.I hope that you like the pattern, and I also hope that the ancient Melissae, with their flowers scented voices, will whisper you the secrets of the nectar, water, and shining among the petals of a thin ray of sun.

Dear Stitchers, finally my first MISTERY SAL is ready and it’s dedicated to the Phases of the Moon. The Moon is the Queen of the Night in all its aspects, and it exerts its subtle influences on the nature, as well as on us all. Each phase of the moon has a different power, and each of these powers intensifies and reaches its culmination in two very special moments: the time of the Full Moon and the time of the New Moon. For this reason I wanted to create two patterns, very similar to each other but at the same time exactly the opposite, and I wanted to present them to you as Mystery SAL, to embroider them together, step by step. The final result will be a surprise for all!

And now here are few and simple information you need to know to participate in the SAL: After you have purchased the pattern in my Etsy store, or directly from me, you will be able to download the First Stage of the PDF format pattern. You can choose which pattern stitch for the SAL: THE MOON PHASES - FULL MOONorTHE MOON PHASES - NEW MOONIf you want you can even stitch them both, because in any case you will receive the steps of the two patterns in the same PDF. The SAL is divided into Four Stages, and you will receive each step on the day of the Full Moon for the next four lunar months. Here are the dates: First Step: July 2nd Second Step: July 31st Third Step: August 29thFourth Step: September 28thIn the last step you can download the complete pattern, with the cover image of the two models realized and finished. One last thing before we start: if you invite two friends to join the SAL you will receive a 10% discount for the pattern purchasing. Just write me first to let me know it, so I'll give you a special coupon code that you can use when you place the order. You can share your progresses in my Facebook Group: The Little Stitchers’ ClubIf you want to join the MISTERY SAL you only have to purchase the pattern here:The Little Stitcher's Etsy ShopI wish you Happy SAL and a very Happy Summer to stitch all together!

Dear friends and stitchers, Spring has come and has brought a lot new inspirations. The colors of flowering branches of peach, apple, cherry, apricot told me stories of births, eggs, girls that can be transformed into rabbits and rabbits that can be transformed into girls, as often happens in fairy tales. And then they told me of a little bird who loves to sing on those flowering branches... a tiny nightingale with brownish feathers...

Nature always enchants us with its beauty and we can observe it to learn everything we need to know to live in harmony. In this period it talks about sweetness, tenderness, because she is a "maiden Nature", a flourished and graceful Nature. A Nature slight like the kiss of a flower petal.

"Next to a great forest there lived a poor woodcutter with his wife and his two children. The boy's name was Hänsel and the girl's name was Gretel. He had but little to eat, and once, when a great famine came to the land, he could no longer provide even their daily bread.
One evening as he was lying in bed worrying about his problems, he sighed and said to his wife, "What is to become of us? How can we feed our children when we have nothing for ourselves?"
"Man, do you know what?" answered the woman. "Early tomorrow morning we will take the two children out into the thickest part of the woods, make a fire for them, and give each of them a little piece of bread, then leave them by themselves and go off to our work. They will not find their way back home, and we will be rid of them. (...)"

"(...) It was already the third morning since they had left the father's house. They started walking again, but managed only to go deeper and deeper into the woods. If help did not come soon, they would perish. At midday they saw a little snow-white bird sitting on a branch. It sang so beautifully that they stopped to listen. When it was finished it stretched its wings and flew in front of them. They followed it until they came to a little house. The bird sat on the roof, and when they came closer, they saw that the little house was built entirely from bread with a roof made of cake, and the windows were made of clear sugar."

Dear Stitchers, I know… it’s a little bit late for St. Valentine Day ;) I thought I do not design new patterns for this day, because I’m working to other projects, but then the inspiration arrived… and I had to listen to it, even if I already knew that I would not have been in time to show you the new pattern in time for February 14th.Anyway, I believe that this pattern can be perfect for any day of the year, because it tells about the precious and important Quest of the Real Love.Why not “True Love”? I have read about the little difference between True Love and Real Love, and even if it could be only a “fairytale” I really believe in it. The True Love is the beautiful love between two lovers, or partners.The Real Love is the Love that includes the True Love, but at the same time is bigger and Embraces everything.The Real Love is the Love for all that is beautiful and harmonious. Is the Love for all that exists.It’s the Love for Life.

It’s a Love that we have to search for, and we have to walk and walk on our deep Path to find it… and we need a little Light that guides us and that teaches us to see the truth and the beauty around and inside us.

And when we find it, it’s fills us and expresses itself in all our actions, in each glance or smile.

Because it’s a Love that makes us part of the ancient Harmony and reunites us with ourselves and with the whole world.

In addition to the Unicorn, that I designed a year ago, a strong symbol of Real Love is the Swan, that silently slides on water, through the waves and floods, surfing each obstacle, following the flow and teaching us to be infused with Love and to preserve it, despite all obstacles, despite every change.

Vi auguro, come sempre, di trovare il Vero Amore, e che ogni giorno sia un Giorno d’Amore :)I wish you, as always, to find the Real Love, and that every day is a Day of Love.

"Most terribly cold it was; it snowed, and was nearly quite dark, and evening-- the last evening of the year. In this cold and darkness there went along the street a poor little girl, bareheaded, and with naked feet. (…) So the little maiden walked on with her tiny naked feet, that were quite red and blue from cold. She carried a quantity of matches in an old apron, and she held a bundle of them in her hand. Nobody had bought anything of her the whole livelong day; no one had given her a single farthing."

This is one of the sweetest and most beautiful fairy tales. In the icy night the Little Match Girl, alone and cold, unwraps her matches and turns them on, one by one, while the snow falls slightly on her hair, on the houses of the city, on street lamps. The first match shows her a hot stove that warms the feet, the second one a table laden with delicious food, the third one a Christmas tree so high and shining that the little girl stays enchanted, while the flames of the candles that decorate the tree rise up to the sky and become stars. One of these starlets falls... it is a sign that a luminous soul will be soon reunited with the other stars, her sisters... And so the fourth match makes appear in front of the girl her beloved grandmother, with a sparkling gold dress. Granny takes the little match girl in her arms and brings her in the sky, in a world of light, harmony, warmth and love.

It seems a sad ending... but the little girl is so happy, and that light is so warm and golden, that you cannot think that there is real sadness...

This story teaches us that there is more, much more of what we can see and touch around us and within us, and that we are protected by ancient spirits - as the girl’s Granny – that keep us in their heart.

Little Bluebird

It is said that birds singing opens some secret doors that lead to happiness... And maybe this is the reason why in many fairy tales birds help the Maiden to find a key, with which she can open doors and know the magical world of fairies...

Magic Christmas Eve

...the cold Christmas night comes and the first snowflakes begin to fall, as light and delicate as feathers... the villages are surrounded by an enchanted silence and a gentle tinkling of bells can be heard from afar...

The Little Stitcher

The Addams Family

It is really a strange family. A matriarch with skin white like the moon, that loves carnivorous plants and cutting roses; a very wacky husband, who smokes a cigar and fights with a sword;
Two very unique children, an eccentric uncle and a witched grandmother...
And the butler?! He's very disturbing ...!

Alice in Wonderland

...There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it: a Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep, and the other two were using it as a cushion, resting their elbows on it, and talking over its head.

The Lady and the Unicorn

One of these tapestries, the largest and most beautiful one, bearing the french words "A mon seul desir" ("my only desire"). This phrase is difficult to interpret, but considering the beauty of these tapestries, that illustrate the flourished nature and the grace of the Lady beside the Unicorn, which symbolizes pure and divine Love, the words could mean that this Love is "the only desire", in front of which every material richness is put away, as well as the lady puts the necklace in her coffer.

Tea Time

Would you like a hot, spicy, delicious cup of Tea? It's time for spending a sweet moment with your special friends...

The Twelve Days of Christmas

The tradition of the Twelve Days of Christmas comes from the past and everywhere it’s celebrated in different ways. The Twelve Days are those between Christmas and Epiphany, from December 26th to January 6th and each of them can be dedicated to a different activity.

The Snowy Forest

In the deep wood life goes on following natural and harmonic rhythms, the seasons dance in a continuous cycle and every moment is truly magical... but there is no moment more magical than the winter, with its gentle snow that falls on the meadows, trees and underbrush.

The Witch's Home

On the edge of an old village stands a big house that seems to be very old and a bit 'scary. There lives a witch of uncertain age... infact, despite the long gray hair, her face sometimes looks like that of a young girl, sometimes that of a centuries-old woman.

Victorian Witch

She comes from a past time. As she passed the golden leaves wave on the branches of trees, and you can feel the scent of rain, wood smoke, roasted chestnuts, wet earth, apple and cinnamon.
She brings the magic of the Descent into the colder and fascinating months of the annual cycle.

Fairytale Advent Calendar

Maybe a nice deer will find you... you'll meet the Little Red Fairytale House, and you will know all the animals in the snowy woods that are awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus, who is so good and loving and always full of sweet gifts for them.

My Free Patterns

Here you can find all my freebies ready to download:

The Scarlet Letter

This is the story of a woman who chose to love and for that reason was condemned, mocked, insulted and compared to the witches that, a few years later and in the same place, were killed: Hester Prynne, the woman who carried the embroidered Scarlet Letter on the breast

Winter Trees

In the enchanted forest winter was coming, leaving its first footprints of frost in the grass covered with gold leaf. The animals prepared their dens, nests and caves for the cold time...